Bellator 155: “Carvalho vs. Manhoef” comes to CenturyLink Arena in Boise, Idaho, tomorrow night (Fri., May 20, 2016), live on Spike TV with a five-fight main card that starts at 9 p.m. ET. The main event for the evening features the first-ever Middleweight title defense for Rafael Carvalho against hard-hitting combat sports veteran Melvin Manhoef.

Carvalho hadn’t lost a fight since his professional debut in 2011, but because of a less than thrilling win over Joe Schilling at Bellator 136, many observers (including this writer) expected “Bull” Brandon Halsey to hand him his butt at Bellator 144 and reclaim the vacant 185-pound title. However, Carvalho flipped the script with one well-timed kick that put Halsey out of action and marked a new era for the Middleweight division. To keep that era going he’ll need to face down a legendarily hard hitting fighter in “No Mercy” Manhoef.

Let’s break down the Spike TV-televised card:

185 lbs.: Rafael Carvalho (c) (12-1) vs. Melvin Manhoef (30-12-1)

Manhoef’s credentials are among the best a challenger can have — an astounding 93 percent of his mixed martial arts (MMA) wins (28 of 30) have come via knockout. And in kickboxing he’s not far behind (27 of 37) at 73 percent. Reading through his victories reveals impressive career wins over Mark Hunt, Kazushi Sakuraba, Denis Kang and Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos just to name a few. The losses, meanwhile, also reveal that Manhoef has never shied away from tough competition — Gegard Mousasi, Robbie Lawler and Tim Kennedy, among others.

If Carvalho intends to retain his hard-earned title he needs to exploit the timing issues that have cost Manhoef in some of his biggest fights. He can be mesmerized by his own punching power and forget to put up his hands before a counter shot comes. And even though ….View full article